‘There actually aren’t enough hours in the week’: a constructivist grounded theory of defending inaction on the implementation of intercultural education in Irish schools

In policy terms, intercultural education is seen as an important response to increased diversity in Ireland. Despite this, existing research is critical of Irish intercultural policy and suggests teachers are unable to implement interculturalism effectively. Given this, it is important to excavate teachers’ understandings of intercultural education. This study adopted a Constructivist Grounded Theory (CGT) methodology via semi-structured interviews with thirty-one post-primary teachers over three rounds of data collection. Data were collected and analysed iteratively using CGT procedures including coding, categorising, and memoing. This study found that teachers held superficial, celebratory views of intercultural education. Most importantly, it also found that teachers defended the lack of intercultural education in their schools. This article will explore these defences in light of literature concerning resistance to change and teachers’ professional identities.